Irreplaceable you
by Ghost White
Summary: Thunderfrostiron. Shorts revolving around the unique balancing act called a relationship between Loki, Tony Stark and Thor.
1. Chapter 1

BIG LOVE TO KRYS FOR EVERYTHING. 3

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Follow my Tumblr blog for writing updates, lots of Frostiron goodness and general Avengers, Iron Man and Thor insanity. Blank-ghost . tumblr . com

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It's not every night that he ends up in the middle of the bed; Thor wedging himself to his back like the larger god is trying to absorb him, Tony with his nose pressed against his throat, beard tickling his collarbones with each breath.

It's normally the mortals place, and rightfully so. Anthony would never admit it but his best sleep comes when wedged between them, even shadowed dreams are respectful of the power of Odin's sons.

There's some sort of harmony at those times too. Three individual beings pressed together into one form that ranges from darkness to light. Tony, their perfect balance in the middle.

The mortal binding them together again as brothers and lovers, his calloused hands more adhesive than any substance known in all the nine realms.

This though, this balance disturbed is wrong. This is comfort he has neither earned nor deserves.

"You are thinking to hard little brother." Thor's voice normally so loud it wakes the dead is respectfully quiet for the sleeping engineer.

He hums softly in agreement, calloused mortal hands twitch against his side, the barest brush of wakefulness before Tony relaxes once more and Loki allows himself to breath.

Heaving out a sigh he shifts slowly, removing Anthony's hand from his hip, if only he can detangle his arm from were it's pillowing the mortal's head. "The night terrors will awaken him soon if he is not between us. I should move."

"So that your's can awaken him instead?" Thor asks, thick fingers brushing his hair off his neck with a gentle sweep. Lips brush against his ear warming his body with a wicked flick of tongue.

He's not so lulled into lust not to notice the comment though.

"I do not-" he hisses in a tone too loud for the confined spaces of the bed. Holding his breath again as Tony shifts in his arms, hand returning to his hip and trapping him once more.

Collecting himself he sucks in and out a heavy breath. "I do not have such dreams."

"Your silver tongue is turning lead, Brother." Thor's voice rumbles in his ear, the bed dipping behind him as the thunder god sits up slowly, gentle lips brushing over his bare shoulders as the sheets slip. "Your dreams wake us as often as Anthony's."

Twisting suddenly he sits up, the mortal's slumber forgotten in his rush of heat and anger. "If they disturb you so then I will lay elsewhere, Brother." He hisses, venom dripping from his words as he scoots from his brother's thumbing arms.

"Loki, that is not what I was implying!"

"Loki?"

It's not Thor's sputtering that stops him though; it's the way Tony sits up with confusion and exhaustion clouding his brilliant eyes. The man looking so childish, full of innocence and perfection as he rubs his face and scratches his hair.

"Who's sleeping were?" he slurs, sleep still dulling his sword sharp mind.

"Loki is being foolish."

He bristles at his brother's words, letting out a scathing hiss and sliding himself to the edge of the bed. The cold bare floor against his feet is a chilling reminder of the warmth provided by his lovers that he's loosing.

It is not like he has any control of the demons that chase him in his sleep.

"Don't. Stop. Just- let me wake up." Tony groans, Loki doesn't look to him but he doesn't need to, the ruffle of sheets is all the sign he needs, tensing just a moment before the mortal's hand sets on his bare back. "What happened?"

Loki tilts his head back, gazing up to the dark ceiling above them. "How oft do I wake you?"

"Well, you've been known to wake me in some pretty creative ways; you've got to be a little more specific than that." Tony sighs, his forehead resting between his tense shoulders, warm breath tickling a hot stripe down his spine.

"How often do I wake you in the mist of dreams?"

Tony's head tilts side to side in a shake and the bed dips and shifts as Thor daringly moves closer.

"Oh. Those times." There's a movement as Anthony shrugs, arms coming around his sides holding and squeezing like a snake. It's not constricting though. It's warm and loving. "I don't tend to remember those times. Just kind of take it all in stride." There's a hard huff of breath against his skin as Tony sighs. "Just like you do with mine."

He grits his teeth till he's sure they'll crack, swallowing past the lump in his throat called emotions.

"You are mortal."

"Weak, limited life span, flesh and bone and soul bound by nothing but thread. Yep." Tony says, his voice oddly light considering how familiar he is with his own mortality. "So what, because I'm drowning in the sand of my hourglass means its okay for me to have PTSD? Because that's bullshit."

"Thor-"

"Thor hides it better. Everyone who's ever seen blood and battle is haunted by it. Period." Tony intones. "Right big boy?"

"Aye brother. I am not free of my own monsters. I simply hold them in. It is a burden I bear most willingly for both of you to feel safe."

Closing his eyes tight he dips his chin down till it rests against his chest, Anthony's arms give a weak squeeze before relaxing.

"We're all broken, sweetheart. No one's prefect. And fuck-you very much for thinking just because I'm mortal means I get to have all the problems." Tony chuckles against his back, index finger stabbing him in the belly.

"Can we get back to bed now? I've got an eight o'clock and Pepper's going to kill me if I fall asleep through this one." Tony detangles himself and scoots back to the head of the bed, patting the blankets like he's calling a practically stubborn cat.

Tilting his head to the side he looks to Thor, his brother looks hopeful but has centuries of time to know to give his brother space when it's needed.

Anthony pats the bed again, awake now. "Come on Happy Wanderer. Get that tight ass over here."

The grin that splits Thor's face matches his own.

Crawling slowly across the bed and back into the waiting hands of his mortal, callused hands that hold the three of them together.

Weak and mortal and stronger than anything that has ever existed.


	2. Chapter 2

BIG LOVE TO KRYS FOR EVERYTHING. 3

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Follow my Tumblr blog for writing updates, lots of Frostiron goodness and general Avengers, Iron Man and Thor insanity. Blank-ghost . tumblr . com

* * *

"Is he any better?"

Tony looks up, blinking owlishly at the cookie cutter silhouette of Thor in the doorway before looking back down to Loki curled up next to him.

The shivers are less than they were an hour ago but that might be because of the two Tylenol that Loki had managed not to puke back up. Thank god.

Tony shrugs a little, it's an incredibly unenthusiastic move but it's hard to cheer over a reduced fever when it's dropped from a hundred and three all the way down to a hundred one. Yay!

"He hasn't thrown up in about an hour."

"That is good." Thor says softly, coming up to the edge of the bed to peer down at the younger god. The Asgardian seems unaffected by the mused state of Tony's hair and clothing or the fact that the lavish penthouse bedroom smells of sickness. Instead taking a second to dip down and brush his lips to Tony's in a soft and affectionate kiss that says Sorry as much as I missed you.

"Or you know he's just saving it for the next time he's really pissed at me." Tony sighs, scrubbing his hands over his face. He feels like he's aged ten years in the last twenty four hours. Maybe twenty.

Thor has the balls to chuckle softly, clasping his hand to Tony's shoulder. "I know how it is. Too many days of my youth were spent in just the place you are."

"He really got sick a lot eh?" he asks, looking down to Loki.

"Very much so." Thor sighs heavily, coming around the foot of the bed and sitting on the opposite side of Loki, his eyes down on the younger god in the dim lit room. "It would be just like this. Mother and Father would sit with him although I doubt he remembers those times. As we grew older the sickness came less, Mother and Father worried less too, but I'd always stay with him through it. "

"Maybe he does, deep down inside." Tony says, his expression soft as he watches Loki relax into a restful sleep with both his lovers at his side now. Reaching down and stroking his sweat soaked hair from his brow.

"Commander Fury was displeased that the both of you were missing from the conference." Thor says, drawing his attention up for a moment, smiling to Tony. "I informed him that the consequences of him risking my brother's health are far worse than a missed meeting."

"Was wondering about that." he says with a little bit of a chuckle, it dies in his throat as Loki gives a low whimper in his sleep. The miserable sound like that of a wounded animal drawing Tony to the breaking point.

"Come on, come here. Fuck. You're getting hotter again. Come here." he says, shaking the moaning deity softly till fever bright green eyes blink open. Coaxing Loki till he's resting his head against Tony's chest, shifting to sit more in the middle of the bed; Thor coming in close next to him.

Hot breath puffs against his neck as Loki settles himself between them. "Anthony…"

"Shh. I'm right here." he whispers, pressing his cheek to Loki's warm, too hot, forehead. "Thor's here too. You've got to cool your shit though or I'm going to have to give you a cold bath."

"Brother." Loki whispers, the one word leaving his mouth in his fevered haze that he would never say knowledgably. Even with the odd tango that they dance called a relationship, things still can be problematic between the two gods. Loki clinging to old hates and bitter memories even as new ones filled with love and family forage over them.

"I am here brother." Thor says, his voice a rumble between the three of them as he rests a giant hand on his little adopted brother's back, rubbing soothing circles.

There is that dying animal sound again for a second till Thor shifts even closer still, cramming the fevered god between them.

Tony closing his eyes tight as he holds his lover trying to bring his fever down by will alone. "Did they always get this bad." he asks, throat tight because this is all too much for him. Trying to swallow down the sinking suspicion that things just got real.

It was the beauty of being in a relationship with these two, where his love with Pepper before was such a disaster, he doesn't have to worry. Didn't have to.

They could rush into battle and walk out bruised and winded but no less alive, no less immortal in Tony's eyes. They could never be used as a weakness, never be harmed, never leave him.

Now though. This cold changes so much.

Thor breaths a great sigh that ruffles Loki's sweat soaked hair thinking back though his long, long, long life.

"If memory serves me right, yes. He would always spend so many hours like this, especially when the sun would set, it seemed to trap him in the illness' grasp."

"No Night-quill and Tylenol in Asgard?"

"The healers never could reduce the effects of the illness. It always had to run its course." Thor says, his voice laden with sadness as he rubs Loki's back and side. "I know too little of Jotunns to know the whys."

Tony tries hard not to feel scared.

His voice is rough and tired when he tries to talk again some time later. "How often does it happen?" he asks, lifting his head and resting his chin on top of Loki's head, watching Thor's grim eyes tighten in thought.

"After passing into adulthood they happen considerably less. On Asgard two years would pass before he would come down with it, other times he'll get it two or three times in a season and would be fine again for a period."

"He'd never told me…" Tony says, feeling cheated and almost bitter. Almost. More or less he just feels terrified.

Thor smiles in the mists of his beard shaking his head a little, propping himself up on his fist as he fusses with the pillows. "No, Anthony. My brother is proud. He would not tell his love of this." Dropping his eyes down to Loki he watches the rise and fall of his brother's chest, the chills chasing up and down his spine. "He hates this. As do I. As I think you do."

"More than anything in the world." he admits with a whisper.

They're quiet for such a long time Tony's sure Thor's almost asleep, Loki a radiator against his chest and the dark room quiet aside from their soft breaths.

"I'm going to fix this you know." Tony says, his voice faint but so strong.

Thor, lifting his head from where it's slumped against the pillows and headboard, blinks and rubs his mouth with the back of his hand. "What?"

"I'm going to fix this; fix him. This sickness. I'm not going to let it get him like this again." He shakes his head, meeting Thor's tired eyes across from him. "I can't…" his voice gives out, tight as a rubber band strung to far, choking a little on his own words.

Thor smiles, lifting his hand from his brother's side and strokes his knuckles down Tony's cheek in a tender gesture for such an omnipotent being. "You are a wise man Anthony. Far wiser than any mortal I have ever meet. Far wiser than most even in Asgard. If anyone can help Loki, it is you."

Tony closes his eyes with a nod, Loki shifting between them as Thor settles once more.

He keeps watch though the night as Loki drifts in and out of his fever. Thor slumbering with his nose pressed into Loki's curled black locks. Both lit by the cool blue glow of his arc.

A little bit of his world broke today. That emotional self-preservation that had been a protective barrier between him and the awful facts of life shattering into a thousand unfixable pieces. It's startling to him how easy it is to keep loving though, even now that he knows everything can still be taken away from him. That with a fever it could all be gone.


End file.
